Rating: 
Summary: Excellent: The Best Book on Breastfeeding Ever!
Review: I always knew that I wanted to nurse because I thought it was the best thing to do for the baby. After reading this book, I realized that not only is it good for your child, but it's best for the mother and the family as a whole. In fact, I can no longer understand why women do not want to breastfeed. This book has taught me (in a very humorous way) that breast milk contains more than 400 ingredients not found in formula!! Additionally, breast milk has four hormones that cannot be reproduced synthetically that have a direct effect on a baby's brain development. However, the most amazing thing is that if your baby is sick and you nurse, the germ will travel from the baby into the mother's body via the breast. The mother will then manufacture a matching antibody and send that back to her baby through the breast milk (how can you beat that!!!). Nursing also helps get the mother back in shape by burning 500 to 700 calories per day and causing the uterus to contract.I cannot recommend this book enough. You'll finish it in two days!! (it's that good and well written).
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book
Review: Breastfeed your child. And if you are sitting on the fence about this decision buy this book. Presented with tons of humor the practical information in this book will help you realize there is nothing in the world you can give your child which will replace the gift of breastfeeding.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful breastfeeding resource
Review: I bought this and 2 other highly recommended breastfeeding books before my baby came, and I read all 3 of them-- this is by far the most readable of them. Then, once my baby was here, we had major breastfeeding problems. This book turned out to be the most useful for both the routine questions (useful descriptions of the various holds) and the obscure problems (like my baby's high palate) The book handled problems and solutions with a sense of humor that left me feeling that I could cope with them. Thanks to this book, some great lactation consultants, and a lot of work, my daughter is breastfeeding at almost 12 weeks, and should be for quite a while longer.
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Summary: I wish I had this book when I was still pregnant!
Review: Out of all the books on breastfeeding this one takes the cake! If you are unsure about breastfeeding and want to give it a try--then read this book.
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Summary: Important Gift for a Pregnant Friend!!
Review: I discovered this book too late to help me start out on the right foot nursing my new baby. Since then, it has been on my desk all the time. As soon as I find out a friend is pregant, I ask if they intend to nurse. They often respond, "I'm going to try". This is the book they need to read to help make their attitude more positive and their commitment stronger. Ms. Tamaro uses humor, cartoons and an easy, dialogue style that makes one feel like she is a wise friend giving it to you straight. The bottom line of her book is most women CAN NURSE with the empowerment of knowledge and confidence. Buy it for your friends or for yourself!
Rating:
Summary: A must-have for pregnant and nursing mothers!!
Review: This is, by far, the funniest, most clever book on breastfeeding I have ever read! Mothers have been inundated with cliches about the "joy of nursing" -- but this book takes a lighthearted look at the nursing relationship, along with providing concise, informative, accurate advice on breastfeeding. Baby books and "manuals" are fine for practical advice on fevers, toys, baths, etc. -- but few offer accurate or thorough information on breastfeeding. I would give this book to any woman who plans to nurse her baby. "So that's what they're for" also addresses attachment parenting (with regards to nighttime nursing and family bed), an approach to parenting that is often regarded, by its critics, as "spoiling" children. However, the author's casual, "follow-your-instincts" attitude is a welcome change from the rigid, preachy methods and systems of popular baby books. Breastfeeding is taken way too seriously in this country: this book is the ultimate answer to that problem! Kudos and thank you, Ms. Tamaro!!!
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Summary: Why the criticisms I read here don't convince me...
Review: It seems as though the reviewing community here is divided: people either love this book or they hate it. I'm finding that most of the negative comments deride this book in roughly three categories: 1) It's tone is "preachy" and "biased toward breastfeeding." 2) Its claims relying on research are not substaniated. 3) People had bought this book with certain hopes and expectations that were not met when they read it. Having read and re-read this book myself over the course of nursing my two little ones, I must respond: 1) I agree that the tone may not appeal to everyone. Some may indeed need a more compassionate voice. But she's a HUMORIST. It's fine to not like the author's sense of humor. But if you feel "preached at" by this book, you are probably missing the point that many of her comments are tongue in cheek and written with an intentional tone that I, personally, found far more engaging than anything in "The Womanly Art..." book. Perhaps you need a particular sense of humor to find this book helpful. And of course she's biased - that's why she wrote the book! If that's not what you need, fine, but that doesn't negate the value of the book for others. 2) The author includes 11 pages of research and source references from everyone from the American Academy of Pediatrics to numerous journals and papers. 3) Giving this book a negative rating because it didn't meet some preconceived expectations YOU had before you bought the book is completely unfair. A rating should be given based on the book as it stands on its own merit...not because it wasn't what you had hoped to find when you bought it.
Rating:
Summary: prevents 99% of problems women may have breastfeeding
Review: I'm a firm believer in preventing problems before they start, and Janet Tamaro's book will do just that. She discusses *why* you should breastfeed, or at least "try it" even if you think it's "not for you" (it doesn't have to be; it's for your baby), and how and why to avoid situations that can cause breastfeeding problems such as drugs in delivery, bottles by the nurses, infant/mother separation. Maybe it will make some people realise that those of us who advocate those things aren't martyrs, but are realists. Proper latch-on and positioning are well explained, as are the realities of living with a tiny newborn. (Scary sometimes for first time moms, but it doesnt' have to be.) "So that's what they're for" should be available in every bookstore instead of dry, condenscending books such as the "what to expect" series. Read this and you won't need the any other books on early babyhood because you'll be well on your way to being tuned into your baby and your body. It's a pretty fast read but good for a second or third trip through. --
Rating:
Summary: So That's What They're for: Breastfeeding Basics
Review: Great book for first time moms planning to breastfeed. Great baby shower gift!
Rating:
Summary: Why the criticisms I read here don't convince me...
Review: It seems as though the reviewing community here is divided: people either love this book or they hate it. I'm finding that most of the negative comments deride this book in roughly three categories: 1) It's tone is "preachy" and "biased toward breastfeeding." 2) Its claims relying on research are not substaniated. 3) People had bought this book with certain hopes and expectations that were not met when they read it. Having read and re-read this book myself over the course of nursing my two little ones, I must respond: 1) I agree that the tone may not appeal to everyone. Some may indeed need a more compassionate voice. But she's a HUMORIST. It's fine to not like the author's sense of humor. But if you feel "preached at" by this book, you are probably missing the point that many of her comments are tongue in cheek and written with an intentional tone that I, personally, found far more engaging than anything in "The Womanly Art..." book. Perhaps you need a particular sense of humor to find this book helpful. And of course she's biased - that's why she wrote the book! If that's not what you need, fine, but that doesn't negate the value of the book for others. 2) The author includes 11 pages of research and source references from everyone from the American Academy of Pediatrics to numerous journals and papers. 3) Giving this book a negative rating because it didn't meet some preconceived expectations YOU had before you bought the book is completely unfair. A rating should be given based on the book as it stands on its own merit...not because it wasn't what you had hoped to find when you bought it.
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